Temperatures in Portland dipped to minus 11 degrees Tuesday morning, breaking a record cold set in 1956.

The temperature measured at the Portland International Jetport hit the low mark at 4:51 a.m., said Margaret Curtis, of the National Weather Service in Gray.

“I’ve been waiting to find out if it was going to get any colder,” she said. “It does look like it’s warmed up from there.”

The measurement at 8 a.m. found the temperature had climbed to minus 8 degrees. A wind chill advisory that had been in effect has expired, though temperatures remain dangerously cold, Curtis said.

The frigid arctic air streaming into New England also set a new record for this date in Concord, New Hampshire, where it hit 20 below zero at 7 a.m., breaking a record of minus 17 degrees, which has stood since 1894.

Today’s record cold is relatively mild compared to the record for February, a polar minus 39 degrees that was set in 1943, Curtis said.

This story will be updated.


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